Carrier apparatus for paper driers



June 24, 1952 COLEMAN 2,601,502

CARRIER APPARATUS FOR PAPER DRIER-S Filed Feb. 4, 1950 2 SHEETS -SHEET l INVENTOR. 77/5000/75 A .COL EMA/V flTTom/Eys June 24, 1952 -r. L. COLEMAN 2,601,502

CARRIER APPARATUS FOR PAPER DRIERS Filed Feb. 4, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR. 77/500005 1. C04 EMAN Patented June 24, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,601,502 CARRIE R. APPARATUS FOR PAPER DRIERS Theodore L. Coleman, Hutchinson, Kans.

Application February 4, 1950, Serial No. 142,432

Claims. 1

This invention relates to a paper dryer, paper web carrier of the type used for facilitating the threading, through the dryer, of theadvanc'ing end of the paper web.

A'paper dryer, of the type used at the dry end "of a paper making machine,-conventionally includes a plurality of mutually spaced and parallel, heated dryingcylinders journaled by a frame holding them in the form of a deck of cylinders. The paper web passes sinuously back and forth so it wraps or loops oppositely around the respective cylinders which heat and thus dry the paper'wb.

The cylinders are rotatively powered to turn in theproper directions to keep the paper web moving continuously through the deck of cylinders. Usually a plurality of these decks are required to "adequately dry the paper web, the decks being 'arranged in successionso that the paper web travels through them continuously. Plant space limitations sometimes result in the various decks being arranged in upstanding positions to form a more compact assembly.

Apaper drying machine having such upstanding decks of drying cylinders is particularly difilcult to thread with the advancing end of the paper web. An uneconomicalamount of'time is lost when such adryer is threaded by manually handing the advancing end of the paper web back and forth around the respective drying cylinders. Paper Web carrier equipment or a so-called rope carrier may be vused'to aid inthis threading.

Suchrope carrier apparatus is applied to the paper dryerby providingperip'heralrope seats at the'ends of the "various drying cylinders. These seats are "radially aligned :mutually throughout all of the decks. A pair of endless ropes are reevecl-around the seats of the cylinders of all the decks in themanner the paper web travels around the cylinders. With this arrangement the advancing 'end of the paper web may be formed into a nose-piece projecting laterally from the paper web and which is nipped between the two ropes at the entering end of the dryer, so that the ropes -pull the advancing end and thus thread the web through the paper dryer. The seats are connected to turn 'with the various rotatively powered drying drums, and these seats may be proportioned in diameter sothat the paper web is fedat the peripheral speeds of the cylinders. Sheaves are used to spread the ropes apart at the entrance and exit of the d'ryer, so that the fpaper web nose piece may be initially nipped between the ropes and iii then removed after the threading. Sheaves are also used to tension the ropes properly. These sheaves are'movable and are'biased to defiectthe ropes and thus maintain the proper tension on them.

Although a system of the above nature facilitates threading of the paper dryer, its operation and maintenance has heretofore been troublesome. Accessible loading and unloading stations and proper tensioning have been obtained, {by prior art designs, only "by using an excessive number of sheaves andexcessive lengths of rope. Prior art arrangements require one or more of the sheaves to be angularly'related radially respecting the rope seats. Practical requirements necessitate attachment of the carrier ropeseats directly to the drying cylinders. Therefore, the carrier rope system must work continuously during the operation of the dryer, even though only needed during threading. The described angular sheave arrangement forces the ropes to bear continuously against the groove sides of the sheaves, thus causing excessive rope wear. Replacement of the ropes requires stopping of the entire paper .making machine, which greatly reduces its over-all productivity andincreases the paper-making costs.

A particularly troublesome feature of prior art designs arises .from the fact that at the unloadingastationsor exiting point of the system the two ropes :are spread apart by beingrespectively passed oppositely around two oppositely positioned sheaves. Space limitations require these sheaves to be positioned very closely together. Therefore, undue 'difficulties a're encountered in isp'earing off the nose-pieceof the paper web asitileavesthe dryer. 'Workmenare frequently compelled to reach in with their hands to free the paper web-from the ropes at this location, and this is extremelyhazardous because of the two oppositely rotating and closely spaced sheaves at this location.

Periodic lubrication of the excessive number of sheaves, required by prior art systems, results in an excessive maintenance cost. This is added to the rope replacementcosts. The prior art requirement that certain ofthe sheavesbe angularly related, requires, in these instances, angularly adjustable sheave mounting brackets, and these are a constant source of irritation because they easily get out of adjustment and their readjustment is difficult and time consuming.

The present invention was conceived anddeveloped with the general objective of eliminating or reducing all of these operational and maintenance troubles inherent to the prior art arrangements. Specifically speaking, the objects are to reduce the number of sheaves formerly required, to reduce the excessive wear to which the ropes were previously subjected, to reduce the necessary lengths of the ropes, to eliminate the need for angularly adjustable sheaves, to permit the advancing paper web end to be more easily speared from the carrier ropes as this end exits from the dryer, and to avoid the need for using the two oppositely spaced sheaves at the exit end of the system and thereby eliminate the hazards incidental to this arrangement. Other objects may be inferred from the following disclosure.

A specific example of a paper dryer web carrier incorporating the present invention, is described hereinbelow with the aid of the accompanying drawings. This is for the purpose of disclosing the principles and operation of the invention. Once these principles and operation are understood they may be incorporated in forms other than those used in the case of this specific example. The manner of making this specific example presents no problems to those skilled in the art once the principles and operation of the invention are understood.

These accompanying drawings are generally schematic in character. They illustrate the invention with many unrelated parts unillustrated. This is desirable because it clarifies and emphasizes the features of the invention.

In these drawings:

Fig. l is a side view or elevation of the device.

Fig. 2'is a plan taken on the line 22 in Fig. 1.

These drawings show by Fig. 2 that each of the various heated and rotatively powered drying cylinders I is provided at one end with a peripheral seat for a set of carrier strands, provided by a pair of ropes 2 and 3, Each seat is numbered 4 or 5 as hereinafter explained and is provided, as illustrated, by an extension rigidly connected to or formed on the end of the cylinder with this seat bounded by radial flanges between which the ropes ride on the seats. The seats are shown as having cylindrical shapes. All of the various seats are radially aligned mutually throughout the entire dryer.

In Fig. 1 only the seats are illustrated it being understood that in each instance a drying cylinder is behind the seat. Therefore, Fig. 1 shows that the cylinders and their respective carrier rope seats are arranged as four successive upstanding decks respectively positioned with the outer two decks offset upwardly from the inner two decks. In the drawings the seats of'the outer two, upwardly offset, decks are numbered 4 and the seats of the inner two decks are numbered 5. As previously mentioned, all of the seats are radially aligned mutually throughout all of the decks.

Although unillustrated, it is to be understood that the various cylinders, carrying their respective seats, are journaled by bearings and are rotatively driven properly tocarry the paper web through the device continuously. The usual dryer frame may mount the various bearings required to position the cylinders.

As is also shown by Fig. 1, the pair of carrier ropes 2 and 3 are reeved downwardly around the seats of the cylinders of all the decks in the manner the paper web travels around the cylinders. Respecting the longitudinal center line of the dryer, the rope 2 is the outside rope and the rope 3 is the inside rope, as is shown by Fig, 2. At

the top of the device both carrier ropes span the tops of the seats 4 of the top cylinders of the two outer decks, and it is from these seats that the two ropes are reeved downwardly around the seats or" the other cylinders. The central portions of the ropes spanning the tops of the seats 4, of the two top cylinders, are supported against sagging by a sheave 6. This sheave may have journals solidly mounted by bearings which are solidly mounted by the dryer frame. But when this sheave is used it should be radially aligned mutually with the seats of the various cylinders and its axis should be parallel to the axes of these seats. This sheave 6 may be primarily a supporter.

The paper web enters and exits from the bottom of the dryer. Therefore, it is here that the two ropes 2 and 3 must be separated to permit the connection and disconnection of the paper Web nose-piece respecting the ropes.

According to the present invention, a sheave l is shown journaled between and downwardly oiiset from the tops of the seats 5 of the bottom cylinders of the two inner decks. These seats are numeraled 5a to identify them in particular. This sheave 1 is mounted to move vertically between the seats 5a. Thus it is illustrated as being journaled by a bracket 8 that vertically reciprocates on guide bars 9 which may be rigidly mounted on the usual dryer frame or the floor. The weight of the sheave T and its bracket 8 serve to downwardly bias the sheave 1.

The inside rope 3 is arranged to span the tops of the bottom-cylinder seats 5a and is bent around or looped under and deflected by the sheave i. This rope 3 does not wrap downwardly around the seats 5a so as to extend oppositely from their lower portions. This rope 3 may be made very short because it is only required to go around the various seats above the seat 5a, in the usual fashion, and at the seats 5a it directly spans therebetween with the only excess necessary being that required to loop downwardly so it partially wraps under the sheave 1. The downward gravitational bias on this sheave 1 serves to properly tension the rope. Other biasing force may be used.

The other of the ropes, the outside rope 2 in this instance, is bent or wrapped downwardly around the bottom cylinder seats 5a and extended as a loop portion outwardly from the bottoms thereof in opposite directions.

Sheaves l3 and l I are journaled outwardly beyond each of the bottom-cylinder seats 5a. The sheave In is journaled outwardly beyondthe lefthand one of the seats 5a, in Fig. 1, while the sheave H is journaled beyond the right-hand bottom-cylinder seat 5a.

With the above sheave arrangement the rope 2 is looped directly around the sheaves l0 and II. Therefore, the rope 2 extends outwardly from the bottoms of the two seats 5a, in opposite directions, and spans to the tops of the two sheaves is and l l, the rope 2 being bent around these two sheaves HI and H and being spanned between their respective bottoms.

One of the sheaves l0 and II, the sheave II in this instance, is mounted to move horizontally. This is done, in this instance, by the sheave ll being journaled by a bracket [2 that horizontally slides on horizontal guide bars I3 which may be solidly mounted. 'I'his sheave H is horizontally biased to move to tension the strand 2. As shown in Fig. 1, this is done by connecting the sheave mounting bracket l2 with a tension rope pullto the bracket {2 in therig' abb-1 ,362

fit when eateries around pulleys E5 ofa is directed downwardly to a weight 1 s "with whim the rope I4 connects. This cdnti'nuously applies a ntand i-r'ection as the arrangement-is seen in 1. Here also other types or force may be used to pib gierly bias this sheave H. i I g The sheave l-n issolidly'mounted-and does not require anyadjustme ntwhatsoever. Nonle -offthe r sheaves 6, 1, l and 1! require any angular "adjustment A I :{Asfcan be appreciated from Fig. 2. the sheave is made in the usual fashion of a rope sheave to provide a "rope seat 1a. This sheave I is M "arranged "so that this rope seat la is radially faligned and parallel with the inside ros 3. Therefore, there is no angular deflection "of this {rope such ifin'ight cause it tojbear aga nst its fiangesmarrea 1b. which pound 'it'sseat 1 e The rope 3 runs truly in -'a 'single vertical flat plane at all times and the shc'aveseat 7a isradially aligned parallel with this plane.

Likewise, the sheaves H1 "and II respectively provide rope seats Mia and Ha, also bounded, respectively, by the usual sheave flanges I 0b and H17. Ineac'h'instance the "carrier'seat's llla and I! a are radially aligned With'tli'e outside rope 2. Therefore, in this instance'also, there is no angularity between the sheaves and the rope such as might cause the rope 2 to be forced against either the flanges 13b "o'r Nb of the respective fshe'aves Ill and H. Thes'eats Illa and Hirand the rope 2 are all truly aligned in the same 'flat "vertical plane throughout theentire dryer.

This rope 2 runs always in a single flat vertical plane parallel to the plane of the rope 3. Both of the sheaves I0 and I l are radially aligned parallel with this plane. The sheaves Ill and H are respectively positioned far enough outwardly from the two bottom-cylinder seats 5a to be manually accessible. This forms short spans 2a in the rope 2 which may be used at the exit and entering points of the dryer.

Note that all the tensioning motion of the sheaves I and I I is in each instance in and parallel with the planes of the respective ropes 3 and 2.

The paper web nose-piece may be curled around the rope 2 at one of these spans 2a and carried thereby in and under the corresponding one of the seats 5a and then upwardly until the nose-piece is nipped by the rope 3 so that the two ropes carry the nose-piece on through the dryer and, therefore, thread the advancing end of the paper web.

At the exit end the nose-piece may be easily speared from the other span 2a. There is nothing to get in the way at this location. If it is necessary to manually remove the nose-piece, or to otherwise handle it, no hazards are presented. There is only the one sheave, and the rope travels over and downwardly around this sheave so that all dangerous hazards are eliminated.

It may now be appreciated that the example described by the foregoing and illustrated by the accompanying drawings fully attains all of the objects previously stated.

I claim:

1. In a paper dryer having a plurality of upstanding decks of drying cylinders with each cylinder provided at one end with a seat for a set of carrier strands and with all of said seats mutually aligned radially, a set of endless carrier strands arranged with each strand lying in a flat vertical plane throughout its entire extent, said strands being arranged to span the tens of the -s'eats 6f the top {cylinders '6: said decks and to reve eewnwaraiy arcane the seats of the cylinders, in-the manner in which the paper web "travels arcane the cylinders, to

the tops "of the bottom-cylinder seats; o'ne' 0:

said strands being arranged to forni a span between the tops er sai'd -bottom cy1irid Fand a sheave radially aligned with said and "mounted for radial movement the seats "strand *m'ou'nted to engage and stretch said 100p portion horizontallyso its opposite loop ends 'extenid "outwardly beyond said 'bottom cylinder seats, one of said "second-named sheaves being mounted "for radial inevemeht in the'fiat plaiie or said other strand and-mean biasing said use j'ri'amed's'heave to-stretch-fsaid loop *portionfand thus; tension said other *of the strands. W

2. ma aper-dryer having apmranty 'druecks of drying cylinders including entry "and exit cylinders spaced transversely of said {decks naving'carierstrandseats,-a pair of carrier strands of dil Terent lengths arranged with eaiclgi errant lying "in a flat "plane throughout entire extent, said strands being reeved aroundsaidf'sejats throughout major portions of "said decks and fthe shorter of saidfstrands being-spannedtogether between two of 'said seats which are spaced transversely respecting said decks on the entry and exit cylinders, a sheave movably mounted for movement radially of itself in the plane of said shorter strand and engaging said. shorter strand radially between the seats on said entry and exit cylinders, a biasing means urging said sheave into tensioning engagement with said shorter strand, the other strand being continued and bent oppositely around said seats on the entry and exit cylinders to a greater extent than said shorter strand and formed into a loop therebeyond a second sheave movably mounted for movement radially of itself adjacent said loop in the plane of said other strand and engaging said other strand radially in said loop and a second biasing means urging said second sheave into tensioning engagement with said other strand.

3. In a paper dryer having a plurality of decks of drying cylinders having carrier strand seats, a set of carrier strands arranged with each strand lying in a flat plane throughout its entire extent, said strands being reeved around said seats throughout major portions of said decks and one of said strands being spanned together between two of said seats which are spaced transversely respecting said decks adjacent the ends of said decks and the other strand being continued and bent oppositely around said seats which are spaced transversely respecting said decks adjacent the ends of said decks and formed into a loop therebeyond which is elongated transversely respecting said decks, a pair of tensioning sheaves each of which is arranged 'in radial parallel alignment with the flat plane in a set of carrier strands arranged with each strand lying in a flat plane throughout its entire extent, said strands being reeved around said seats throughout major portions of said decks and one of said strands being spanned together between two of said seats which are spaced transversely respecting said decks adjacent the ends of said decks and the other strand being continued and bent oppositely around said seats which are spaced transversely respecting said decks and adjacent the ends of said decks and formed into a loop therebeyond which is elongated transversely respecting said decks, a pair of guiding sheaves each of which is arranged in radial parallel alignment with the fiat plane in which one of the strands lies, one sheave engaging one strand in said loop and the other engaging the other strand where it spans said seats adjacent the ends of said decks.

5. In a paper dryer having four upstanding decks of drying cylinders arranged with the outer two decks offset upwardly from the inner two decks and with each cylinder provided at one end with a seat for a set of carrier strands and with all of said seats mutually parallel and aligned radially, a set of endless carrier strands arranged with each strand lying in a flat vertical plane throughout its entire extent, said strands being arranged to span the tops of the seats of the top cylinders of the outer two decks and to reeve downwardly around the seats of all the cylinders, in the manner the paper web travels,

to the tops of the seats of the bottom cylinders of .the two inner decks, one of said strands being arranged to form a span between the tops of said bottom-cylinder seats and a sheave radially aligned parallel with said span and mounted for radial movement in the fiat plane of said one of the strands and means biasing said sheave to move it to engage and deflect said span and thus tension said one of the strands, the otherof said strands being bent further around and under said bottom-cylinder seats and having a loop portion, and sheaves radially aligned parallel with the flat plane of said other strand and mounted to engage and stretch said loop portion horizontally to its opposite loop ends extend outwardly beyond said bottom-cylinder seats, one of said second-named sheaves being mounted for radial movement in the flat plane of said other strand and means biasing said last-named sheave to stretch said loop portion and thus tension said other of the strands.

THEODORE L. COLEMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

